Process modeling is a technique used to show how a given process operates (or is supposed to operate). For example, an enterprise that sells computers may receive orders from customers, generate an invoice for that order, determine if parts need to be ordered to build that computer, and generate a shipping manifest for the ordered computer. A model of these processes can help companies to better understand and analyze how their processes are being (or will be) implemented, which may lead to new process efficiencies.
One technique in modeling a process is to model the process with modeling software where a person creates a model based on their knowledge about how a business process works. The created model can then be referred to (either manually or automatically) by an organization when an instance (e.g., handling a new order) of the process is being executed.
Another technique for creating a process model uses process mining to auto-generate a model based on occurrences of events in a process or data associated with occurred events (including timestamps, actors, events, identifiers, purchase order information, etc) that are recorded to a computer system. The events may be expressly stored to a storage system, for example, a computer program that generates a purchase order may also generate log information (e.g. a transaction database entry or the like) upon creation of the purchase order. Similar entries (from the same program or other programs) may be stored for other types of events in the process (e.g., creating a shipping manifest, assembly of the product, etc).
In certain instances, process mining is performed with an artifact centric process mining technique where the events are derived, or may also be derived, from the existence of “artifacts” of the process within the computing system as opposed to directly retrieved from logged events. In other words, a record in a database or a document with line items for a purchase order may be used to infer the event that created the record or document (and its sub components). For example, events may be generated from artifacts (e.g., documents, line items, events, changes to objects, and the like) of an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) application. As such, a log file containing a recordation of a purchase order event may not be the only relevant item used in certain example processing mining techniques.
Processing mining thus takes these “transaction events” and creates a “mined model” from those events.
A potential problem with process mining is that the created mined model may not be suitable for non-expert users (e.g., business centric users) because the model is too technical in nature. In other words, when a process model is generated using process mining, the number of events that are recorded by a system may be relatively large compared to the basic business process for which they are associated. For example, five different event types may be generated for a single element that is included in a human created model (e.g., generate purchase order).
This results in a model that is very complex and possibly too detailed for certain user types. This complexity decreases the value of the provided information because it may not be suitable for work instruction, training, day-to-day monitoring (e.g., transaction monitoring) of the underlying processes by process owners (e.g., non-technical users), etc. For example, it can be difficult to appropriately determine a root cause of why a particular transaction of a process is running out of bounds if a mined model is being analyzed. This is because determining which events are related to a general process model element (e.g., generate purchase order) may be difficult.
Attempting transactional monitoring with a human drawn model can be problematic too because it requires the drafter of the human model to know what exceptions to look for. In other words, the creator of the model needs to know what the expected problems are before the model is actually implemented.
Thus, both types of models (human drawn and mined models) can provide benefits for organizations seeking to better understand/control their business processes. However, there also exists a need to provide new, improved, or different ways of visualizing, managing, and tracking process models so that users can more quickly see or determine how a business process is being implemented.